Fellowship
by Beckintime
Summary: This is my short submission for round 9 of the houses competition! House: Ravenclaw Year: 2 Category: Short Prompt:[Speech] "It seemed like a good idea yesterday!" Word count: 896


**A/N:  
House: Ravenclaw**

 **Year: 2**

 **Category: Short**

 **Prompt:** **[Speech] "It seemed like a good idea yesterday!"**

 **Word count: 896**

"It seemed like a good idea yesterday!" Hagrid protested as he looked down at Minerva McGonagall, a woman who - despite her height - had been scaring him for the good 36 years that she had been working there.

"You can't just raise a dragon in Hogwarts, Hagrid!" the women protested, "they're dangerous beasts!"

"'Course I can Minerva, this lil' beauty wouldn't hurt a fly, especially after I've trained him" Hagrid argued back, pointing to the egg that was currently in a roaring fire, in his hut.

"You've had bizarre pets here before, Hagrid, but this, frankly, is just ridiculous. What if it fancied one of the first years for a mid-afternoon snack, eh? Who would stop it? In all honesty, it's a good thing I just so happened to wander in here unannounced and caught it before it hatched."

"Naw, The guy who sold me the egg said they were perfectly harmless."

"How many drinks did you have before hearing this...Besides, _who_ was this stranger you procured the egg from? Are you telling me someone is selling dragon eggs within proximity of the school?"

Hagrid, looked down at his feet, clearly defeated, "Yeah, I got it in Hogsmeade, down the Hog's Head." He admitted. "Norbert wouldn't hurt anyone though, I'd make sure of it."

The stern look from McGonagall's eyes faded to be replaced with one of pity. Hagrid assumed she perhaps felt sorry for him, perhaps she thought the stranger had been possibly taken advantage of him, he had been quite drunk but he won the game of cards fair and square and the egg was worth it; At least, to Hagrid it was.

"And what did he want for it, Hagrid?" she asked in a softer tone.

"Nothing, a couple of sickles, that's all. " dismissed Hagrid, he wasn't some child, he was a grown man, capable of making his own decisions. "I won it in a game of cards, the fella seemed really interested in what I did, and in some of my other animals, like Fluffy - must'ave thought I was a collector or somethin', I guess"

"I can't let you keep the dragon on school grounds…" McGonagall started, to which Hagrid quickly interjected, desperate to keep his egg.

"Please, you can't inform the Ministry, they'll take him away or something. For all I know they could kill 'im before he gets a chance at life."

"Then what would you have me do Hagrid?" her sternness returned. "I have a duty of care to these children and you're making that very difficult with this creature!" she said frustrated, gesturing towards the egg.

"I'm sure I can train it, just give me a few more days." His eyes were wide and desperate, indicating he was grasping at straws.

"How do we know it won't hatch in a few days? And how exactly do you train a dragon whilst it's still in the egg?"

"He's still listenin' Minerva"

"That's preposterous, it's still unhatched"

It was at that moment a slight crack was heard from the fire. Both Hagrid and McGonagall swung their heads in it's direction, McGonagall with her hand on her wand.

"It's fine," Hagrid said, after getting closer to examine the fire, "The egg needs to be heated for a while before it hatches, that must have just been some air in the wood or somethin'"

"Why couldn't it have been a bowtruckle or something, Hagrid, why did it have to be something classed as an XXXXX creature by the Ministry? You realise they have that classification for a reason, Hagrid, they cannot be tamed." McGonagall continued.

"There are worse creatures than Norbert over in that forest and I didn't really think about any of this yesterday, to be honest. I maybe had a lil' too much to drink by that point and I thought maybe giving Fluffy a sibling would be a good idea."

The older woman rubbed her face with frustration. "Besides, the students won't go in the forest and most of the things in the forest stay in there. I'm sorry Hagrid but I have no other alternative."

"When Norbert is old enough, I can put him in the forest, and he'll stay there because I would have trained him by then."

"Merlin's Beard, Hagrid! I know you have a certain...fellowship with magical creature but why can't you understand this, dragons are dangerous!" She made a move toward the door, but Hagrid blocked her way.

"Minerva, please," Hagrid pleaded desperately. "Give me a few days to at least see if I can find some other way that won't involve the Ministry. He won't have even hatched in a week, so he won't hurt no one!"

Professor McGonagall paused.

"Hagrid," McGonagall said slowly, yet dangerously, her eyes narrowing. "Get out of my way."

Hagrid complied, fear in his eyes. "Yes ma'am." He bowed his head in subjugation

She opened the door and stepped outside, looking back to the defeated man. "You have a week Hagrid, no more. And when I come back, that dragon had better be gone."

Hagrid's heart soared, he had given his little friend some extra time, he now just needed to plan what to do next. He felt the corners of his mouth tug up into a beaming smile and saw, as McGonagall turned to walk back up towards the castle, an amused smirk on her own lips.


End file.
